Automatic danger-signal



(NoMqdeL) E. B. PHILLIPS. AUTOMATIG DANGER SIGNAL.

INVENTOR 6% Mad/m ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 9, 1886.

WITNESSES NITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

AUTOMATIC DANGER-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,263, dated November 9, 1886.

I Application filed February 12, 1886. Serial No. 191,761. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERRETT ERNEST PHIL- LIPS, of New Castle, in the county of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Automatic Danger-Signal, of which the following is a full, clear, and

' exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a signal and an automatic mechanism for operating the same, whereby an approaching train will trip the parts and cause the signal to be displayed, the invention being more particularly applicable to points upon the track that are not visible the one from the otheras, for instance, at curves or tunnels on single-track roads, it being well understood that most of the collisions upon such roads occur at the points named. \Vith my improved signaling apparatus, however, a train approaching one end of a curve or tunnel will display a signal at the other end of the curve or tunnel, thereby giving warning of its approach to a train traveling toward the curve in an opposite direction.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying which similar letters of reference indicate cor-' responding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of my improved signaling appa ratus. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, the side walls of the pit in which the actuating mechanism is iuclosed being shown in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a similar view from the opposite side of the track. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the tripping mechanism; and Fig. 5 is-a vertical sectional view of the signal-box, illustrating the arrangement of the slide.

Along bot-h sides of the track, and just beneath the projecting ends of the ties, I form a pit-like structure, A, which is made of planking, masonry, or any other material desired. A lever, a, in and near one end of which there is formed a notch, a, is pivotally connected to the side wall of the pit A, and to the short arm of this lever there is pivoted an upwardly-projecting stem, 1), upon the top of which there is a head-plate, Z), arranged close against the side of the tread of the rail. Upon the bottom of the pit Athere is fixed a bed-plate, c, in which there is rigidly secured a springstrip, B, which, if not under tension, would occupy a vertical position, but which is normally held back to the position shown in Fig. 3, thenpper end of the strip being engaged by the notch a of the lever to.

Within the pit A there are a number of sheaves, C O 0, around which there is passed an endless 'chain, D, which may be flexible throughout its length, or may consist of long rods between the sheaves. Fixed to this chain D, justin advance of thesheave 0, there isarod, d, mounted in the brackets dd, andarranged so thatits projecting end bears against the face of the spring B. To the sheave 0 there is pivoted a link, e, that is pivotally connected to one end of a lever, e, the stem 0 of the slide E being pivotally connected to the other end of the lever, this slide being arranged to work up and down to open or close the aperturef of the signal-box F, a lantern, F, being hung,

within the signal-box in line with the aperture.

To the sheave 0 there is connected one end of a lever, G, by means of a link, 9, the other end of the lever being in pivotal connection with astem, g, which extends upward through an opening in the top of the pit, and is provided with ahead or bearing piece,'g, ar-

ranged close by the side of the tread of the rail.

Such in general is the arrangement of the apparatus tripped by trains approaching from the south, the operation being substantially as follows: i

As a train approaches the head I) of the stem b,that is carried by the lever a, the short arm of the lever a is depressed, and the long arm,in which the notch is formed,is elevated, so that the spring B is released from engagement with the notch a, whereupon it will spring forward to its vertical position, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3,) carrying with it the rod d, which, as before stated, is fixed to the chain D, so that the upper length of said chain Will be carried forward in the direction of the arrow shown in connection therewith. This movement of the chain D imparts a rotary movement to the sheaves O G G, and as the sheave O is partially rotated the lever 6 will be moved to the position shown in dotted lines, which movement of the lever will draw down the slide E, so as to expose the lantern .F

through the opening f, and the movement of the sheave G will move the leverG to the position shown in dotted lines, which movement of the lever will elevate the head 9" of the stem g above the tread of the rail, and in position so that it will be struck by the wheels of the train when the train approaches the point at which the said head is located; and it will be readily understood that upon the depression of the head 9 the lever G will be restored to the position shown in full lines, and that a motion exactly the reverse of the one heretofore described will be given to all the parts of the signaling apparatus. In other words, the slide E will be raised to close the aperture f and the bar d will be carried back, thereby throwing the spring B into engagement with the notch a, and as the long arm, of the lever a drops to a horizontal position the head I) of the stem b will be raised above the tread of the rail, thus setting the apparatus so that it may be tripped by the next train approaching from the south.

Just the same arrangement of parts is employed for trains approaching from the north, except that the position of the parts is reversed, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be readily understood that trains passing over the section of the track protected by the signaling apparatus above described would, in the absence of a proper resetting mechanism,trip the parts, so that as said trains left the section the signal intended to be displayed by trains passing in the opposite direction would be displayed. To overcome this difficulty, I arrange a lever, N, in con nection with each signaling apparatus, said lever being pivoted to a tie or other proper spreading plate at a point near the middle of the road-bed, as shown in Fig. 1.

Bothends of these levers N are formed with longitudinal slots 02, through one of which slots there is passed the stem 1) of the head of the bearing-block Z1, while through the slot at the other end of the lever there is passed a vertical rod, 0, which is guided in a slot, 9, and fixed to the chain D at a point near the sheave C, so that as a train passes over the sectionfor instance, from the north-and trips the signaling mechanism shown in Fig. 2,the rod 0, connected with the signaling apparatus operated by said train, will be moved toward the south and carry with it the notch of the lever N, with which it engages, and consequently the opposite end of the lever will be moved toward the north, which movement of the lever will throw the stem 1) to the north, the stem moving upon its pivotal connection with the lever a, and the head of the bearingplate will be depressed below the tread of the rail, so as to be out of the way of the wheels of the passing train; but when the train reaches the head or bearing plate g the reverse movement will be given to the signal-operating mechanism, and the head or bearing plate b' will be restored to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3-that is, to a position in which it would be borne upon by the next train approaching from the south.

Although I have described my invention in connection with a signal -box containing a lantern and adapted foruse after sunset or in the dark, it will of course be understood that a code of signals could be arranged for use in the day-time-as, for instance, letrit be understood thatthe absence of the slide, which might be painted white, would indicate danger.

It will of course be understood that the pit A would not be necessary when the apparatus was arranged within a tunnel, the sole pur' pose of the pitbeing to protect the operating mechanism from the weather.

- Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway signaling apparatus, the combination, with a signal operated by a slide, of a chain mounted on sheaves and carrying a bar, (I, a spring, B, and lever to, carrying stem 1), and of means for operating the slide from the chain, substantially as described.

2. In a railway signaling apparatus, the

combination, with a signal and its tripping combination of the following elements, viz:

stem 1), having bearing-head, lever a, having notch a, spring B, bar d, chain D, sheaves U .0 O, lever c, signal-box F, slide f, connecting-rods c and p, lever G, rod 9, and stem 9, having a bearing surface or head, 9, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with two signal-operating mechanisms, substantially as described, of

a lever, N, connected to the chain of one of naling apparatus, while the other end of each lever is slotted to engage with a rod, 0, carried by the chain of the opposite signaling apparatus, substantially as described.

ERRETI E. PHILLIPS.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN T. PHILLIPS, HIRAM G. MILLER. 

